Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 172
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì547324%Î547324                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/10/2014           .                                
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       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 117.055, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         117.055 Notarial journal.—
    8         (1) When performing a notarial act that requires notarizing
    9  a signature, a notary public shall record the following
   10  information in a bound sequential paper journal or an electronic
   11  journal that creates sequential and nonmodifiable records:
   12         (a) The date and time of the notarial act.
   13         (b) The type of notarial act.
   14         (c) The type, title, name, or description of the document,
   15  proceeding, or transaction requiring the notarial act.
   16         (d) The signer’s printed name and signature or, in the case
   17  of an electronic journal, the signer’s name and electronic
   18  signature pursuant to s. 668.50(2)(h).
   19         (e) The signer’s complete residence address.
   20         (f) Whether the signer is personally known to the notary
   21  public or presented satisfactory evidence of his or her identity
   22  pursuant to s. 117.05(5)(b). The notary shall record the type,
   23  last 4 digits of the unique identification number, and
   24  expiration date of the identification presented.
   25         (g) The names of witnesses to the notarial act, if any.
   26         (2) A notary public must retain a notarial journal for at
   27  least 5 years after the date of the last recorded notarial act
   28  in the notarial journal. If a notarial journal is lost, stolen,
   29  misplaced, destroyed, erased, compromised, rendered unusable, or
   30  becomes otherwise inaccessible during the retention period, the
   31  notary public must immediately notify the Department of State in
   32  writing of the circumstances of the incident.
   33         (3) The notarial journal is the exclusive property of the
   34  notary public and must be kept in a locked and secure area,
   35  under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public.
   36  Access to an electronic notarial journal must be protected by a
   37  password or other secure means of authentication.
   38         (4) Failure of a notary public to comply with this section
   39  constitutes grounds for suspension or nonrenewal of the notary
   40  public’s commission and grounds for the denial of a subsequent
   41  commission by the Governor.
   42         Section 2. Section 117.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   43  read:
   44         117.10 Law enforcement and correctional officers.—Law
   45  enforcement officers, correctional officers, and correctional
   46  probation officers, as defined in s. 943.10, and traffic
   47  accident investigation officers and traffic infraction
   48  enforcement officers, as described in s. 316.640, are authorized
   49  to administer oaths when engaged in the performance of official
   50  duties. Sections 117.01, 117.04, 117.045, 117.05, 117.055, and
   51  117.103 do not apply to the provisions of this section. An
   52  officer may not notarize his or her own signature.
   53         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
   54  
   55  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   56  And the title is amended as follows:
   57         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   58  and insert:
   59                        A bill to be entitled                      
   60         An act relating to notaries public; creating s.
   61         117.055, F.S.; requiring a notary public to record
   62         specified information in a notarial journal when
   63         performing certain notarial acts; requiring that a
   64         notary public retain a notarial journal for a
   65         specified period; requiring a notary public to notify
   66         the Department of State if the notarial journal is
   67         lost, stolen, misplaced, destroyed, erased,
   68         compromised, rendered unusable, or becomes otherwise
   69         inaccessible during the retention period; providing
   70         that a notarial journal is the exclusive property of a
   71         notary public; requiring a notary public to secure the
   72         journal; providing that failure to comply with the
   73         notarial journal requirements constitutes grounds for
   74         suspension, nonrenewal, or denial of a notary public
   75         commission; amending s. 117.10, F.S.; exempting
   76         certain acts of specified law enforcement and
   77         correctional officers from the notarial journal
   78         requirements; providing an effective date.